![[homemade] Poor man’s carbonara (Apologies to the food purist out there)](https://www.diningandcooking.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/43udqgbm8ycg1-scaled.jpeg "[homemade] Poor man’s carbonara (Apologies to the food purist out there)")
This may be food blasphemy. I didn’t have guanciale or freah Parmigiano reggiano, so I subbed bacon and Kraft Parmesan cheese because it’s all I had. The fake Parmesan left it a bit gritty, but it still tasted pretty good all things considered. Served with garlic toast and roasted green beans.
by Actuaryba
25 Comments
It looks like a really nice meal, and I’ve made it this way a few times tbh. it’s not really carbonara but still really tasty with lots of black pepper. As far as I know, Kraft grated parmesan is still considered “real” parmesan, it’s just not as good as the ungrated Italian stuff and pre-grated cheese has a coating of starch to prevent clumping.
100% would!
Screw the purists, this looks delish!
Ignore the “purists” they don’t care about real food, just being superior. Carbonara during WWII was often made with bacon and powdered egg. Looks good to me.
Looks really good. I love carbonara but I never thought about making it myself.
I actually prefer bacon in carbonara. Also, I usually have bacon in the freezer.
I mean, even for the purists I would say this has all the basic elements of carbonara. The sources I’ve seen that claim carbonara was invented for US servicemen stationed in Rome after the war, also claim that bacon or at least pancetta is original, and guanciale is a retcon, even if it’s better with guanciale. Ditto for grana vs. pecorino Romano.
I say nonsense to the purists, my ten-speed grandmother would love this!
That looks really good…… Did you actually, use white bread, for your garlic bread? And your beans!? Mmm….. Favorite vegetable of all time!
When I was in Haiti a common breakfast was pretty much this, spaghetti with bacon and eggs. I love a good carbonara but I also love a good Haitian breakfast.
Actuary and poor man, username does not check out.
Otherwise looks great!
My only complaint is that it isn’t saucier, something that I struggle with too. I think I need to add a bit more pasta water and take the pan off the heat quicker next time. At some point, I’ll probably try doing the heated ban marie (bowl heated over pot) method that I saw some Italian Michelin chef do on Youtube.
I would take a plate of that right now. Looks tasty.
If you used the kraft pre ground up shit then there is now way to make it smooth with the shit they put into it. American Parm is fine
Looks good, doesn’t look like the sauce has split and it’s clinging to the pasta well. For a dish like carbonara getting the technique right matters a bit more than the specifics of the ingredients. If you live in Italy then getting guanciale and parmesan/peccorino will be significantly easier and cheaper than in the US – and also you don’t want to screw the dish up making it for the first time and using expensive ingredients!
I too made a Poor Man’s Carbonara last month from ingredients I got from the Food Bank.
Because of what you called it, I think this is fine.
The name acknowledges that this is a deviation from the traditional dish and limitations that prevent it from being made “properly.”
I grew up on my dads “carbonara”, just spaghetti with fried smoked ham and two raw eggyolks on top with parsley. Not carbobara but i loved it.
This is exactly how the majority of people will make it lol.
My mum’s “carbonara” was tuna simmered worth spring onions in cream. I absolutely loved it, first “carbonara” I ever had.
I am from Italy and you have my blessing for what it’s worth. You work with the ingredients you have
Honestly I’m a big fan of the green bottle of sawdust, but mainly as a garnish on top of pizza or pasta or salad. It does NOT cook well lol. If you make this again, do yourself a favor and at least get some real cheese! It doesn’t have to be super expensive, you can get a smallish block that should give you plenty for a recipe like this for a single-digit number of dollars from most basic grocery stores.
Even a non-purist WILL absolutely notice the difference lol.
I’d tear that up! See the top comment on how to make it more “saucy,” you can still get the gritty texture if you use more expensive cheese. Never mind the pretentious culinary snobs who want to seem refined and intelligent..a recipe this simple is often a result of using whatever ingredients are available.
Recipe:
I didn’t follow a formal recipe, but this is what I did:
Whisk 4-5 eggs in a bowl with the Kraft Parmesan, add and a generous amount of black pepper.
Crisp one pound of bacon in the oven. Chop bacon up and save the fat / grease.
Cook one pound of spaghetti until al dente, once done, set aside one cup of pasta water and drain the rest. Add the bacon and bacon grease (To your liking) to the pasta and stir.
Stir in few tablespoons of the pasta water to the sauce, then add the pasta / bacon to the bowl with the sauce and toss. This is the hard part, and requires some “feel.”
I did the green beans in the air frier with salt, pepper, and garlic. Serve with garlic bread.
I think that’s all.
XD that you got that far with powdered cheese is amazing. And no, not blasphemy when you know you’re making changes to the recipe. It’s when you call it “authentic carbonara” and add white wine and peas to it that things are disrespectful.
Parmeggiano is also not a bad substitute, but it’s supposed to be Pecorino sheep’s milk cheese. It’s a lot easier to mix with the egg, and has a very distinct flavour that goes really well with the cured salt meat.
Hot tip as well: getting the sauce perfect by mixing the cheese and egg in a bowl (I always use the whole egg.. because I don’t care). And then adding pasta-water to the pasta until it’s the right temperature. And then adding the egg and cheese mixture, and so on — getting that to work is extremely difficult. I fail every now and then, and it’s infuriating and heartbreaking every time.
What you can do instead is to mix egg and cheese, dump the pasta in the pan, letting it stop sizzling. And then slowly add a little bit of pasta-water to the egg/cheese until it becomes the texture of the sauce, the thickened and slick substance – and then add it to the pasta.
It’s cheating, but it works. Every time.
If you want to figure out more about why this works, and how – I recommend learning to make hollandaise in a way that isn’t potentially going to break it. This has exactly the same temperature limits for the egg, and is a similar emulsion type sauce.
Looks pretty solid. One time, someone at my work bought Captain Crunch Bacon (I have no idea why). I sent a picture to my Italian sister in law and told her I was going to make carbonara with it, lol
For years I would make pasta with heavy cream and the wrong kind of bacon and call it carbonara.. this looks great.